LogFAQs > #945503201

As much as I would love to see arcades make a comeback (obviously) I don't think it's very likely to happen anytime soon.

To get arcades back you'd have to make them at a level that goes beyond what home video gaming can do similar to how film has movie theaters. The easiest way I could see that happening is through VR which is still beyond the price range of most gaming households. Even something like getting a display range of 4K then eventually 8K and up could be huge. But even if that's too steep making more games like the Star Wars Battle Pod would provide something that home gaming isn't capable of and would greatly immerse any gamer playing it. Lastly as far as current tech goes adding omnidirectional treadmills and motion tracking could give.

In terms of future innovations arcades could have there's holodeck style tech that companies are working on. This provides what I consider to be the penultimate level of video gaming immersion. Home environments aren't suited to building a holodeck for space reasons alone and that's not factoring in computing costs, holodecks would require a more public environment to function and arcades could charge for their use by the hour. However holodecks have one major drawback in that players are going to inevitably generate fatigue toxins and get tired which leads to the highest level of gaming immersion in full dive VR.

Full dive VR commonly compared to The Matrix or Sword Art Online is the highest level of gaming immersion I can imagine where the games are connected directly to the brain. With a direct to brain connection you get all the immersion of the holodeck with the added bonus of never physically tiring out from covering long distances in game. Once this level of gaming comes I firmly believe that supercomputers will be needed to run these games at least at first if not forever as technology will inevitably peak as far as computing goes. I can honestly see arcades if they are even called that promting this tech like movies with posters and the like in the lobby and outside the building before players enter the room where they strap themselves in put on a helmet and play the games. I can even see the biggest ones being released Christmas Day.

I don't think arcades are dead but like Cthulhu they are dormant and waiting for when the time is right.

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Beware the fanatic! Too often his cure is deadlier by far than the evil he denounces!-Stan Lee RIP
Make Arcades Great Again!